March 07, 2023

Trail Trust grant makes new flow trail and much more possible at Oak Mountain State Park

Birmingham Urban Mountain Pedalers (BUMP) builds, preserves and maintains trails in the Birmingham, Alabama metro area with most of their volunteer efforts focused on trails at Oak Mountain State Park. The park, located just south of Birmingham in Pelham, AL, is home to the biggest and longest-running mountain bike trail system in Shelby County and the State of Alabama. As the gravity side of mountain biking has become more popular, BUMP has seen increasing demand for more jump/flow trails that are almost non-existent in the area. In the case of Oak Mountain State Park, BUMP was hoping to create a trail option for people to learn how to safely jump non-gap type jumps, expand BUMP's ability to host enduro type events, and create additional excitement for the local MTB community.

Enter Scott Vickery, an active BUMP member and Fox Factory employee based in nearby Trussville, AL, where he works as Senior Director of Sales & OEM Relations for Fox's Performance Vehicle Development (PVD) group. Scott encouraged BUMP to apply for a Trail Trust grant to build the new flow trail since one of the priorities for Trail Trust, launched by Fox Factory in 2021, is building and maintaining trails. Fox Factory heeded the call by donating $35,000 through Trail Trust to make the new MTB trail possible. The trail named "TAILS" (in honor of the fox tail in our logo) officially opened on January 7, 2023. Several members of the Fox team were present opening weekend and got to enjoy Tails first-hand.

Photo credit: DirtLife Media Designs

BUMP President Chase Draper shared, "The Trail Trust program allowed us to add a much-needed new flow trail to our system. TAILS is incredible and unique and will surely be a favorite for locals and a destination trail for years to come. I couldn't be happier with the support we've received from Fox Factory and we're proud of what we've accomplished together. In addition, with financial support from Shelby County, permission from Fox Factory, and utilizing hundreds of volunteer hours from BUMP members to complete TAILS, we were able to repurpose a portion of the grant to pay for a complete rebuild of the Lightning trail (which opened on February 28) - both projects were completed by Barry Smith Trails."

We are looking forward to BUMP's 29th annual mountain bike race taking place June 9 - 11, 2023. We plan to have folks from several Fox Factory locations present and are excited to see the new trail and overhaul of Lightning made possible by Trail Trust!